This was or first ever food tour on Chanukah and we had a wonderful time! We learned how to play dreidle and we tasted various of the newest iterations of donuts. The dairy donuts are now all the rage, and we tried some that sell for $8.50 a piece! They're filled with delicious cream-cheesy fillings and come in a mad...

This fall there has been an influx of posters from Israeli Haredei activists who are pushing back against the Israeli draft of Orthodox youths. There is no knowing how interested local New York Hasidim are in these issues, but the Israeli activists sure have been churning out posters.
I find this poster particularly illustrative for its shocking use of the holocaust...

A very nice Hasidic gentleman who works at one of the delis I take my tours to, told us a story today. He offered the story to me and some of my tourists just as we were wrapping up and heading out, ahead of this pouring rain.
"I have a story for you. You can use it on your tours." he...

So many people assume that Hasidim, like other conservative groups, vote on religious values issues. They assume that Hasidim care about gay marriage and abortion, because that's a Christian conservative political issue. I often explain the distinction in Ultra Orthodox Jewish attitudes towards politics and that of the Conservative Right. While the conservative right considers the law as a source...

As a tour guide, I've learned about some of the most fantastic tours in New York City. I was never one to consider tours, but I've come to understand that tours provide not only an opening to learning and exploring, but also a way to connect with people from all over the world. I'm so glad Fodor's put this together,...

I saw this poster in Hasidic Williamsburg during the Sukkos season (this time of year) and found it really ironic and interesting. It's emblematic of the paradoxes of modernity and conservatism in contemporary ultra orthodoxy.
The poster announces a holiday lecture (in Israel!) on several topics of faith, ie, a conversation on prophetic knowledge and if there are still prophets in the...

Last Friday, I stopped into a deli and bought a copy of the Hasidic Yiddish paper. The September 21st Der Yid was the hefty Sukkos edition, so thick it felt like holding five newspapers stacked together. I got the paper for the Kavanaugh story on the latest allegations of sexual assault against him. I wanted to see how the Hasidic paper...

Among Satmar Hasidic Jews, women never smoke. It’s really unheard of. But quite common for men, even though it’s officially frowned upon. Smoking is seen as deviant and often a way men try to be “cool”, but it’s not the kind of transgression that can push someone out of the fold.
The reason Hasidic men often smoke probably goes back to...

It’s really a question of: if the NYC Department of Education cares, what can they do?
Hasidic groups have a long history of fighting changes to their education, going back to the nineteenth century Europe. As soon as modernity reached Europe, Jewish “reformers” tried to urge the government to intervene with the lifestyle of these “unwordly” Jews and to demand certain...

Intro note: to understand what restrictions there are on the internet for Hasidim, you have to understand how restrictions work in the Hasidic community. Unlike, say, in China, where the government can point-blank block domains, Hasidim who live in New York City cannot simply physically be blocked from using the internet. Instead, customs are enforced among Hasidim through a combination...

The Jewish comedian Jackie Mason who grew up in NYC during the period of most cultural output from New York Jews (he was born in 1931 and was of the Borscht Belt generation), has recently been visiting Gottlieb’s restaurant in the Hasidic community for a bit of deli-style Jewish food.
This is where the deli food is moving to: the Hasidic and ultra-orthodox...

It's always interesting to watch the rotation of street posters in the streets of Hasidic Williamsburg. You can get a sense off of them what the most zealous members of the Hasidic community are busying themselves with, and you can see if their campaigns create change. Take the posters about smartphones and the internet. They have been everywhere, warning people...

For us ultra-ultra-ultra (ultra) Orthodox Hasidim, handshaking with the other gender was prohibited. No handshakes, no hugs, not even passing a paper to my boss directly into his hands. I’d put it down on a table, and he’d pick it up.
Now that I’m secular, I shake hands - not big deal. (I’m not so big on hugs though; they are...

Someone just sent me a message through my business website. They apologized that they are not exactly messaging about my services (walking tours / food tours). But: could I help them find an apartment in Hasidic Williamsburg?
This. This is what I occupy my time with. And requests from photographers to photograph Hasidic kids. I get asked to be connected to Hasidim...

Many Hasidim did. In Williamsburg, he got a large part of the vote.
I was there the morning after Trump won. People were glad. They said “it’ll be good now, it’ll be good”.
Their optimism was borne out of
Their very skewed/limited exposure to news and Trump. The Hasidic papers are heavily censored and won’t cover details like that of the Access...

Oh, yeah. I grew up Hasidic in Kiryas Joel and all four of my grandparents were holocaust survivors, all of my friends were grandchildren of holocaust survivors. Our Yiddish paper ‘Der Tseydung’ ran a column in every weekly paper, telling a different person’s war story. I remember reading some pretty horrifying stuff at the kitchen table, while eating soup, as...

I don’t live in Germany, but I am a tour guide in the Hasidic community in New York, and Germans are definitely my biggest customer demographic.
The first time I did a tour for Germans, I felt very torn about it. The Hasidic community is a community of Holocaust survivors. My grandparents had number tattoos, all four of them. My zeidy lost a...

I lived in Kiryas Joel the first twenty five years of my life. I was born and raised there, educated there, married there, became a mother there, got divorced there, and left there with the kid in tow. Every time I return to visit my family I am stunned by how quickly the village is changing, how fast it is...

Here is an answer from history:[1] Paraphrased and copied (with some abbreviations) from a paper by Glenn Dynner (who was my teacher at SLC):
In 1845, Tsar Nicholas of Russia decreed a ban on traditional Jewish clothing, because “Traditional Jewish attire was now deemed clannish and visibly repugnant, while Jewish hairstyles were said to encourage the spread of the scalp infection known...

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While I think nothing compares to being a visitor in the Hasidic community, I have found that the tour travels well. I can bring my presentations, rugelach and other materials to your class or community or home for the traveling tour. I’ll be the tourist, for a change!
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BOROUGH PARK FOOD TOUR

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The Borough Food Tour is themed around Hasidic Life. We try mouth-watering rugelach and dairy pastries, piping chollent, fresh challah with famous tomato and eggplant dips, and more.
Starting at Orthodox Jewish Borough Park, near the 55th Street D train station. Exact meetup information sent with the booking confirmation.
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WILLIAMSBURG FOOD TOUR

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The Williamsburg Food Tour is themed around Hasidic Life. We try mouth-watering rugelach and dairy pastries, piping chollent, fresh challah with famous tomato and eggplant dips, and more.
Starting at the beautiful new Domino Park. Exact meetup information sent with the booking confirmation.
Price includes about six food stops.$55 adult / $40 child

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The Culture Tour will take place in Hasidic Williamsburg, near the Marcy Avenue train station.
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